Vintages

My Wines

My Cellar

HdV is a venture between the Hyde Family of Napa Valley and the de Villaine Family of Burgundy. The families, related by marriage, share long histories in French and Californian winemaking. In HdV, we have brought together our knowledge and experience for the purpose of creating single vineyard wines from the slopes of Hyde Vineyards.
Producing some of the most coveted grapes in Napa Valley, H... Read more

HdV is a venture between the Hyde Family of Napa Valley and the de Villaine Family of Burgundy. The families, related by marriage, share long histories in French and Californian winemaking. In HdV, we have brought together our knowledge and experience for the purpose of creating single vineyard wines from the slopes of Hyde Vineyards.
Producing some of the most coveted grapes in Napa Valley, Hyde Vineyards has gained distinction for its single vineyard wines. Extending this single vineyard approach, we endeavor to bring transparency to the unique expression of the Hyde Vineyards' terroir.
It is through a strict adherence to the most rigorous French philosophies of viticulture and vinification that we believe this can be achieved. By choosing only the best vines from very small acreages, we manage the yields with greater precision to produce limited quantities of intense distinguishable wines.
HdV is bottled under the label that bears the coat of arms of the historic de la Guerra family from which Pamela Fairbanks de Villaine and the Hydes descend. De la Guerra is one of the oldest families in California and can trace its winemaking back to a gold medal received at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Fair. The partnership feels that this coat of arms symbolizes the sense of tradition, family, and winemaking history that the new venture embodies in its philosophy.
THE WINERY
The winery was designed and developed in every aspect to respect the fruit once harvested. We strongly believe in the gentlest handling of the grapes and minimal intervention in order to let the wines develop the characters that are true to the vineyard terroir. From the beginning, the fruit goes through extensive sorting so that only the finest remains as it begins its journey into the winery.
At the winery, our equipment is custom designed to maximize the use of gravity and minimize the exposure to mechanical pumping. From the crusher or the press, the fruit is taken to an assortment of tanks that allow us to co-ferment specific lots in order to marry together the distinctive characteristics of each one. Once the wine is in barrel, our winemaker carefully follows each barrel personally until it is time to bring them back together to make the ultimate blend. In each vintage, only the finest barrels will make it into the HdV wines.
THE VINEYARD
"The secrets to the wines of HdV are found woven into the detritus of attributes that blend together in nature's chaotic order." -- R. Hyde
HdV Wines are sourced exclusively from Hyde Vineyards. Originally purchased by the Hyde Family over twenty-five years ago, Larry Hyde has gained national recognition for his viticultural talents growing grapes for some of the best single vineyard wines in the country. Hyde Vineyard was recently honored at the White House when, for the first time ever, several different wines from a single vineyard were featured over the course of a dinner.
Terroir
Covering sedimentary terraces, Hyde Vineyards is blessed with shallow loamy soils and ancient streambeds that work in conjunction with the cool Carneros climate and gentle winds to create moderate hydric stress within the vines. It is this condition of moderate stress that encourages the vines to maximize their potential.
The temperature moderating winds of the Carneros region are key in that they allow for prolonged growing seasons of pleasant Springs and long cool Falls. This extended growing season is vital to the completion of phenolic maturation that brings both intensity and balance to the wines.
Farming
At Hyde Vineyards, our vines are tended to minimize compaction of the soils so that
we are able to encourage a healthy microbial ecosystem and a naturally balanced substructure for the vine,...indeed, the very root of our wines.
Sustainably farmed, our vines flourish under a naturally balanced environment that allows a certain amount of vine disease to occur. Though seemingly counter-intuitive, the great growths of France have long understood that a certain amount of disease is not only natural but provides assistance in naturally stressing the vine into producing its finest wines. By avoiding chemical fertilizers and herbicides, a condition of biodiversity in the soil allows the vines to naturally repel most disease through the presence of beneficial organisms and bacteria.
Clones (selections)
Multiple selections of each varietal are grown for each of the HdV wines to extract the many layers of complexity that are available from the terroir of Hyde Vineyards. With four different selections of Chardonnay and Syrah, three selections of Merlot and one selection of Cabernet Sauvignon, we endeavor to bring every nuance of the vineyard into the wines. Read less